The Dorsal Fin

The RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program were kind enough to provide a nice free meal for this 3m lemon shark, as part of their shark research. The lemon shark had apparently had a run-in with fisherman at some point, based on the fish stuck in its jaw.

According to a statement from Paul Barrington, the shark involved in the Wrighstville Beach incident was erroneously identified as a sand tiger shark.

Contrary to statements made in a WECT.com feature on the recent shark attack at Wrightsville Beach, Paul Barrington of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher was quoted today in a Lumina News article as saying…

"A lot of the media has so far erroneously identified it as a sand tiger shark. It takes a tremendous amount of forensics to determine specifically what type of shark it is."

The WECT.com feature stated that Barrington believed that "a sand-tiger shark could have been the suspect" in the Wrightsville Beach incident. However, Barrington’s recent quotes seem to dispute that notion.

George Burgess stated in the Lumina News article that the species of shark involved will likely remain a mystery. Burgess and Barrington confirmed the shark was approximately 4′ in length. Barrington’s list of suspected species include the small sharpnose shark (the species with presently the largest population in coastal NC), the dusky, the sandbar, the lemon, the black tip or the spinner shark, according to the Lumina News article.

Kirk Gatrich, a researcher for Florida International University who was bitten on the arm by a lemon shark about two weeks ago, says he’ll continue to work with sharks and is “completely comfortable” being around large sharks. Gatrich and a colleague were leaning over the side of a boat measuring the lemon shark when it turned its head and grabbed Gatrich by the arm.

According to WSVN-TV Gatrich is working on research that deals with the dwindling number of shark populations in the world’s oceans.